.22 LR Conversion Questions

EvilutionInc

EvilutionInc

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Hello,
First I will apologize for being such a noob with this.
What I would like to know is for my first pistol I am thinking about purchasing something that has the ability to be a .22 Caliber conversion. Can anyone suggest a make and model that would be best? Also any pros or cons to a conversion?


Thank you in advance.
 
First off there Is no such thing as best. There are several options. 1911 glock sig cz to name the more popular options. There really aren't any cons. 22 guns suffer far more stoppages than any centerfire cartridge but that's the nature of the beast.

Tdc
 
Of the more common conversion kits, the leader by reputation and units sold is likely the CZUB Kadet conversion for the CZ-75/85 and SP01 Shadow.

A close second would likely be the GSG 1911 conversion kit.

Both of these kits are also available as complete guns.

I'm waiting for the Grand Power K22 to arrive. Unfortunately it's not available as a kit, just a stand alone gun.

I would avoid the Ceiner 1911 conversion kits based on the reputation.
 
Sig 226. Can buy the Classic 226 in 22 and upgrade to 9,40,357sig or buy the centerfire caliber and go to a .22 or whatever you want. If you are looking for an all metal gun, this is your most versatile.

I like the CZ75 but their rimfire kits are crazy expensive and they don't seem that readily available. Not sure if there are centerfire kits for them like the Sig.

Sig 226 all the way, if you like the platform. With the Sig, everything is included, the slide/barrel/spring assembly and the mag. Take the whole slide assembly off, put the new one on, load the new mag= shoot. In 10 seconds you have a new caliber.
 
Although great for training on a specific model, I am more of the "just buy another gun for same price" persuasion

A Ruger MkII/III is a far better gun than most* conversion kits.

I would rather have 2 guns than 1.5.

(*CZ kadet is excellent but should be for that $$)
 
Conversion kits are expensive. It's better to buy for eg. a Glock 17 and buy a .22lr like a S&W 22a-1 for $285 than a conversion for $399+. This way you will 2 complete guns.

Or what I have a M&P9 Pro Series and a M&P22.
 
jackrabbit000 said:
Conversion kits are expensive. It's better to buy for eg. a Glock 17 and buy a .22lr like a S&W 22a-1 for $285 than a conversion for $399+. This way you will 2 complete guns.

Or what I have a M&P9 Pro Series and a M&P22.
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I thought the same way until I started using the Sig platform which is my favourite now. I had a GSG 1911 which I liked, but sold for a Sig 226 which accepts 4 different calibers. Kits are $355 at Wolverine and take seconds to switch over. This metal alloy frame of the 226 is a beast. Battle tested and beyond. Sig 226 pistols/mags are readily available, new or used on the EE. I've seen some kits on there go for pretty cheap. Shop around.

Cabela's has the 22 kit for $259. I do pick and choose what I buy, I have several 9mm & 40 pistols, therefore it's about the platform that really sells me more than anything else. The OP needs to do some research and decide for himself.
 
st1264 said:
I thought the same way until I started using the Sig platform which is my favourite now. I had a GSG 1911 which I liked, but sold for a Sig 226 which accepts 4 different calibers. Kits are $355 at Wolverine and take seconds to switch over. This metal alloy frame of the 226 is a beast. Battle tested and beyond. Sig 226 pistols/mags are readily available, new or used on the EE. I've seen some kits on there go for pretty cheap. Shop around.

Cabela's has the 22 kit for $259. I do pick and choose what I buy, I have several 9mm & 40 pistols, therefore it's about the platform that really sells me more than anything else. The OP needs to do some research and decide for himself.
Click to expand...

Don't own a Sig but might have to look into it. I did see the .22 kits at Cabela's in Edmonton. Pretty cheap at $259. Does the slide lock open on the last shot on the .22 conversion? I thought I read somewhere that it doesn't.
 
Glocks all have conversion uppers. Problem is conversions are picky about the ammo you can feed them. (or I've heard that you can wd-40 the cheap ammo and it feeds ok)
 
The slide does not lock after the last round on Sig conversion kits... There is a fix for that, but requires after market followers... I have them and they work perfectly.

On the Sig note, the only complain I have about the Sig conversion kit is that it only shoots reliably with CCI mini mags or better... No cheap ammo...
 
I'm with bollox. I'd far have a whole other gun for that much money.

The only time a conversion kit really makes a heap of sense is when this will be your ONLY EVER gun you buy. Using a conversion kit will make you a master of the platform if you have any masterly traits within you.

However most of us are "gun sluts" and we buy a wide variety of handguns of all sorts. As soon as you do that the primary advantage of the conversion kit is lost.
 
BCRider said:
I'm with bollox. I'd far have a whole other gun for that much money.

The only time a conversion kit really makes a heap of sense is when this will be your ONLY EVER gun you buy. Using a conversion kit will make you a master of the platform if you have any masterly traits within you.

However most of us are "gun sluts" and we buy a wide variety of handguns of all sorts. As soon as you do that the primary advantage of the conversion kit is lost.
Click to expand...

:agree:
 
KotKotofeich said:
Glocks all have conversion uppers. Problem is conversions are picky about the ammo you can feed them. (or I've heard that you can wd-40 the cheap ammo and it feeds ok)
Click to expand...

I've had both Gen 4 and Gen 3 AA kits and after breaking them in (running a few thousand rounds of 40gr CCI Mini Mag through them) I never had any problems running the cheap stuff. The cheap stuff is usually only an issue when they're new and not really ''broken in''. I had the exact same results with my Sig 226, once it had few bricks of the good stuff through it,it ran great with anything. I just ran 300 rounds of blazer through my 229 conv kit the other day and had only four stoppages. Unless I've run out, I normally use CCI most of the time anyhow.
 
Jackspade said:
The slide does not lock after the last round on Sig conversion kits... There is a fix for that, but requires after market followers... I have them and they work perfectly.

On the Sig note, the only complain I have about the Sig conversion kit is that it only shoots reliably with CCI mini mags or better... No cheap ammo...
Click to expand...

You still have to remember to manually lock back the slide with the Sig Power followers. They only prevent the slide from slamming closed on last round. If you forget, and hit the mag release, it'll slam shut regardless.
 
EvilutionInc said:
Hello,
First I will apologize for being such a noob with this.
What I would like to know is for my first pistol I am thinking about purchasing something that has the ability to be a .22 Caliber conversion. Can anyone suggest a make and model that would be best? Also any pros or cons to a conversion?


Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

I have had a few kits and a few 22's.

The key to keeping a 22semi firing reliably is 2 things:

1) Keep it clean (every 100rounds or every range trip if you shoot more)
2) Ammo: You want 40gr cci minimag 1200fps or Federal AutoMatchthats about 1200fps. These come in 3XX round packs usually. sometimes 100.

The CZ and sig 22 kits work well with those ammo I mentioned, I had no real problems with them, maybe once in a blue moon the Federal didnt feed properly because its lead nose bullet and had a odd burr on the nose.

The STI conversion kit for the 1911 is awesome too.

But consider this, for the price of most of these kits you can get a 2nd gun that shoots 22, maybe even a wheel gun.

I know you are thinking I wanna practise with the same grip etc of my center fire pistol but I personally think you will take a few rounds to adjust to the recoil and sights when switching from your 22 to your larger caliber gun.

For ME I find the 22 helps get rid of the flinch and gets my breathing right, the sights and where the gun is shooting I figure out very quickly and I prefer not having to switch slides etc while on the range.

YMMV
 
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